Gurgaon: Auto-driver held for ‘rape’ of 7-year old girl

Police teams fanned out across Dundahera village to trace and arrest the accused

A case of rape registered against the accused at Udyog Vihar police station.(Parveen Kumar/HT PHOTO)

Gurgaon police arrested an auto-driver involved in the brutal rape of seven-year old girl in Dundahera village on Sunday evening. The auto driver was arrested on Monday afternoon from the same village after a manhunt was launched to crack the case.

The accused, identified as Kamal, is a resident of Dundahera village. A case of rape was registered against him at Udyog Vihar police station. Police said the accused is behaving as if he has psychological issues but truth will come out after medical tests.

The incident happened around 7pm on Sunday and the police was informed around 8pm. As soon as police reached the spot, they took the victim to the hospital, who was bleeding. Her condition is stable now, said police.

According to the police, Kamal had visited the victim’s Dundahera home on Friday evening after befriending her 10-year old cousin. The victim hails from Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh. Kamal offered him toffees and other eatables and sought information about the family.

“The accused got the information about her family members of the victim, including at what time they left for work. On Sunday evening, he called the girl and his 5-year old brother on the pretext of giving them eatables and took them to the bushes near the auto stand where he committed the crime,” said Arjun, SHO, Udyog Vihar police station.

Police officials said that finding the accused in Dundahera was like finding a needle in a haystack, as the village has over 1 lakh people, including migrant workers employed in nearby Udyog Vihar.

On the direction of Gurgaon police commissioner Sandeep Khirwar, 25 police teams were formed to arrest the accused and prevent him from leaving the city. “This was a heinous crime and catching the accused was a priority,” said Khirwar.

DCP (crime) Sumit Kuhar said that these teams, led by SHO, Udyog Vihar, fanned out across Dundahera village. “We came to know that the accused had visited the house of the victim two days back and offered a banana to her cousin. After scanning the CCTV camera footage, a granular image of the suspect was also made,” said Kuhar.